What Are You So Afraid Of? [Harry Styles]

Chapter 3

"And the two artists going through to the finals are..." Ryan Seacrest started dramatically.

Jez stood on stage, holding her breath. Opposite her were three other acts, and only two of them would be going through to the next round. There was a girl group called BELLA that had five girls in it, and each letter of their group name stood for one of their names. They were mostly a pop group, and Haz liked to make fun of them but Jez was still a little intimidated by them. There was a market for pop these days, and if that was what the world wanted then that was the act they would vote for.

Two of the remaining artists were clearly rock artists. They were out of their comfort zones in the non-rock rounds of the contest and Haz said that they got it this far on sheer luck.

And then there was Jez. She didn't really know where she stood so far. Somehow, the judges loved her voice and the crowd loved it even more. She was really upset once Haz got voted off, but she had to carry on doing her best; even if she wanted to give up, her friend wouldn't let her. Haz got voted off after the country round of the contest, but she was still there to support Jez constantly.

"Jessica Whyte and BELLA!" Ryan shouted suddenly. Jez got a fright, and had to replay the words over in her head. She was going to the finals! She screamed and started jumping up and down, while the girls of BELLA shrieked happily. Suddenly, she felt herself being hugged and she heard Haz talking excitedly in her ear.

"You did it! You did it! I told you you would do it!" They were now both jumping up and down, and Ryan interrupted their celebration.

"Congratulations to the two acts going through. Dani and Erik, I'm sorry, but your journey ends here." Dani and Erik thanked the judges, said goodbye to the crowd and left the stage. Then Ryan turned to Haz and Jez.

"Haz, it's always nice to see you," Ryan smiled and Haz smirked back at him.

"Well, Ryan, it's always nice to see you, too." Haz wagged her eyebrows at him and Jez covered her eyes at Haz's open flirting.

Ryan chuckled and then turned to Jez, "So, Jez, how are you feeling now that you know you're through to the finals?"

Jez shook her head, "I can barely describe it. It's so surreal, and I never thought I'd get this far. I just wanna thank everyone at home for keeping me here, and I'd like to thank the judges for their advice and this amazing opportunity."

Ryan smiled and then moved over to BELLA, "So, girls, finals next week. Are you feeling good about it?"

"Absolutely," Bridget spoke and flipped her dark hair over her shoulder. "We work really well together and we're going to give it our all next week."

Ryan nodded and looked to Lily, "Lily, how are you feeling?"

"Well, Ryan, we're definitely going to get our game-faces on. Jessica is a hard act to follow and we really want that mystery prize." Lily smiled, but there was an emotion behind it that Jez didn't recognize. She felt Haz pinch her side, which was usually a sign that she wanted to make some snide remark but couldn't since she was on camera.

"Ahh, that brings us to the mystery prize," Ryan said and turned to face the crowd. "As you know, the winner of America's Next SuperStar will receive three prizes: a recording contract with Sony Records, a two-million dollar cash prize and a Mystery Prize that will be revealed on the final night of the competition. The final round of the competition is the RnB round of the competition. Contestants must pick a rap song to perform and they will also perform a song that the audience will request. There will also be a special celebrity guest that each contestant will have to perform with.

So, to recap, each contestant must perform three songs next week: one with the celebrity guest star, one that they will choose and one that the audience will choose. Now, to see your favourite contestant sing your favourite song, visit the America's Next SuperStar website and vote for the song you want each contestant to perform. The song with the most number of votes will be song they perform. Voting closes on Wednesday night at six pm and opens tonight right after the show." Ryan finished explaining the rules and smiled. "We'll see you next week on America's Next SuperStar. Goodnight everybody!"

Suddenly, the lights cut off and Jez was being dragged off the stage by her best friend, "Okay, so we need to talk song choices, I'm not exactly the biggest RnB fan, but I'm thinking you should go with 'Lil Wayne. But if you're not into it, you could definitely get away with Rihanna-"

"Haz! Calm down." Jez said, taking a deep breath. She watched as her friend took a deep breath to steady herself and nodded. "Firstly, I don't know if I can do this- BELLA is a strong group, and five voices are better than one-"

"Wait, are you serious?" Haz put her hands on Jez's shoulders. "Jez, you are hands down the best singer on this show. You don't have to worry about the Princesses of Pop; you have this competition in the bag." Haz raised an eyebrow, "So, calm down and enjoy this. All you need to worry about now is picking the right song. I don't know about you, but I've never really listened to RnB music long enough to know what's good and what's not."

Jez smirked, "Well, I might have a secret playlist on my iPod that I've kept hidden from you and Alex..."

On Wednesday evening, Jez, Haz and the group were sitting in the lounge backstage and waiting for Ryan to announce the results of the song poll and who the special celebrity guest star was.

"I think it'll be Rihanna," Lily said as she twirled her blonde hair around her finger. Jez thought that Lily was unnaturally pretty; she had golden-blonde hair, hazel eyes and a tall and lean figure, but the only thing that stole her beauty was her personality; she was always making awful comments and calling her and Haz ugly names, which is why Haz had taken to making fun of the group in return.

"I doubt it'll be Rihanna," Haz said without looking at Lily.

"And why is that Harriet?" Lily snapped her head to glare at Haz.

"Well, because if she's seen this show, she would be too afraid to be within a five mile radius of you." Haz said and smiled sweetly.

Lily grunted, narrowed her eyes and opened her mouth to make a comeback but was interrupted by Ryan walking into the room, "Okay, girls, the results are in. I hope you've both made your personal song choices already?" he asked and everyone nodded.

"Great. So, BELLA, I'll start with you. The people voted and the song they want you to perform this week is Marilyn Monroe by Nicki Minaj. You have until Saturday to prepare this song and on Saturday evening you'll perform it." The entire group of girls smiled and high fived each other; it was a good song for their voices. Suddenly, Jez was feeling nervous. What if the song she had to sing was completely wrong for her?

"And, Jez, the song the crowd wants you to perform is I Was Here by Beyonce." Both Haz and Jez had heard the song in passing when they were choosing which song Jez should perform. It was a good song, and it was something Jez thought she could pull off without falling on her face.

She turned to Haz and smiled and Haz returned the smile with a knowing smirk. Haz clearly thought that Jez was the winner of the competition.

"So, Jez, the same rules apply to you- you have until Saturday to prepare the song and you'll perform it on Saturday evening. Clear?" Ryan asked.

"Crystal," Jez said with a smile.

"Great," Ryan said, "Now, onto the special celebrity guest; how this works is you'll have to pick a song that features the artist on it. So, the special guest for the RnB round is,"

"Please be Rihanna, please be Rihanna," Jez and Haz heard Lily chanting from the couch.

"Wale." Ryan said with another smile. "The same rules apply, pick a song with him as a featured artist, you have until Saturday to prepare and will perform on Saturday evening." With that, Ryan left the room quickly, leaving all the girls shocked.

"I don't know any Wale songs, do you?" Bridget was asking the rest of the group nervously.

"No," Lily said and ran a hand through her hair, "Ellie, what about you?"

Haz giggled loudly and pulled Jez up out of her chair, "C'mon, we should go start practicing. See you girls later." She said and waved dramatically to the other girls.

Once they got out of the room, Jez let out the laugh she was holding in, "Did you see their faces?" she said and doubled over. "They were all like 'ahhhh!'"

Haz laughed, "Come on! We need to find you a song!"